EEA YouTube Show: Building a Culture of Appreciation

What is appreciation and what does it have to do with workplace engagement? Everything, according to the work of Dr. Paul White, Founder of Appreciation at Work, which has pioneered a system for making appreciation part of any organization’s day-to-day culture.

Building a Culture of Appreciation at Work
Recognition vs. Appreciation
Making Appreciation Happen
The Role of the Appreciation at Work Facilitator
Tools and Resources
Keys to Success

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Is appreciation a warm and fuzzy or essential to your organization’s well-being? These three EEA YouTube guests believe that authentic appreciation supports the foundation for any successful culture. They share how a systematic approach to appreciation helps organizations build a more resilient culture.

This is the topic of an Enterprise Engagement YouTube show Creating a Culture of Appreciation: The Foundation of Performance.

Click here to listen to or watch the show.

Dr. William Attaway is an Executive Coach specializing in leadership, mindset, and productivity, with over 30 years of experience in leading teams and coaching leaders. He has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs, agency owners, business leaders, and their teams across six continents, helping them navigate and overcome the leadership and mindset challenges that can often feel overwhelming. He is the author of several best-selling books on leadership and is currently working on his third, scheduled for release in 2026.

Caroline Rochon, facilitator, speaker, author, success coach, and trained professional organizer is a Global Premiere Partner with Dr. White and Appreciation at Work^TM. She is a also DISC Certified Human Behaviour Consultant in association with Personality Insights, Inc. and a Certified Jack Canfield Trainer on Success Principles. Since the pandemic, Caroline has had to adapt to the new reality that is imposed by seeking additional training and coaching such as “Virtual Master of Ceremonies” and other courses that allow her to maintain her excellence level.

Dr. Paul White is a psychologist, speaker, and leadership expert who “makes work relationships work.” He has been interviewed by the New York Times, BBC News, and other international publications. White is the coauthor of the best-selling book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, which has sold over 550,000 copies (with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The 5 Love Languages).

Building a Culture of Appreciation at Work

In most workplaces, “recognition” programs focus on performance — celebrating milestones, hitting quotas, or achieving goals. But as Dr. White, author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, explains, appreciation goes deeper. It’s about valuing people for who they are, not just what they produce.

Recognition, he explains, can be top-down and achievement-based. Appreciation, however, is person-to-person and can flow in every direction — from a frontline employee to their supervisor, from peers to colleagues. Its purpose is not just to make people feel good, but to create a healthier, more engaged, and ultimately more productive workplace culture.

Recognition vs. Appreciation

Recognition highlights performance (“thanks for meeting your sales target”), whereas appreciation affirms the individual (“thanks for helping me out on that project — it meant a lot”). Appreciation acknowledges effort, character, and contributions even outside of formal achievements.

Dr. White’s research shows that over 50% of employees prefer appreciation shown in ways other than words — meaning that saying “thank you” alone misses the mark for half the workforce.

Adapted from Dr. Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages, the five languages of workplace appreciation are:

Words of Affirmation – Verbal or written praise
Quality Time – Intentional time spent together
Acts of Service – Helping lighten someone’s load
Tangible Gifts – Small, meaningful tokens
Physical Touch – Appropriate gestures like a handshake or high-five

Each person has a primary language and preferred actions within that language. The program uses the Motivating by Appreciation (MBA) Inventory, an assessment tool that helps teams discover how each member wants to receive appreciation — and how they don’t.

Appreciation builds connection and trust across teams. When people feel valued, they are less defensive, more collaborative, and more loyal. Turnover — one of the most costly issues in business — decreases.

As Attaway put it, “Culture is not just the words on the wall — it’s what happens down the hall.” Intentional appreciation ensures the culture is built, not left to chance.

Making Appreciation Happen

A culture of appreciation is not a one-time initiative or a “flavor of the month.” It’s a system that includes:

Awareness – Helping teams understand the difference between recognition and appreciation
Assessment – Having every team member take the MBA Inventory
Application – Using results to express appreciation in ways that truly resonate
Intentional Planning – Leaders develop strategies to weave appreciation into daily interactions
Measurement – Regularly evaluating progress with tools like the Appreciation at Work Rating Scale
Impact metrics – Organizations can measure the impact by evaluating turnover, referrals, survey and willingness to recommend scores, as well as potentially quality and productivity measures.

Organizations can start small — even a single team — and scale from there.

The Role of the Appreciation at Work Facilitator

Facilitators like Caroline Rochon and William Attaway guide organizations through implementation. by:

Delivering initial presentations and training sessions
Helping leaders interpret MBA results and build plans
Coaching managers on sustaining appreciation practices
Providing follow-up evaluations and re-engagement activities

Facilitators can work with small teams or help train internal trainers for large organizations, ensuring long-term adoption.

Facilitators usually offer the Appreciation at Work system as part of a broader toolkit of related services. By becoming a facilitator, Attaway and Rochon say, not only provides a way to help a client over the long run maintain a culture of appreciation, but also helps identify other ways to assist the company.

For a small one-time fee, facilitators receive all the tools needed to become certified in the process.

Keys to Success

Rochon emphasizes flexibility and progress over perfection — tailoring the approach to each organization’s needs, industry, and culture. Trainers must value people, be curious about organizational dynamics, and commit to consistency.

William Attaway adds that this is not just about engagement scores or one-time morale boosts. Done well, appreciation impacts retention, performance, and the bottom line — making it one of the most cost-effective culture-building tools available.

The Appreciation at Work system transforms workplace culture, they say, by focusing on valuing people as people. It goes beyond recognition, personalizes appreciation, and turns it into a repeatable, measurable process. Whether for a small team or a global enterprise, it equips leaders to build environments where employees feel seen, supported, and motivated to contribute their best.

Tools and Resources

Key implementation and support tools include:

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace book
MBA Inventory (individual and team profiles)
Facilitator’s Implementation Kit with guides, videos, and activities
Train-the-Trainer Online Course for internal champions
Mobile App for reminders and habit-building nudges
Post-Program Assessments to track cultural improvement
Marketing materials, including a presentation to use with clients

Click here for an infographic that explains the learning program.

These tools make the process scalable, affordable, and easy to sustain over time, say the panelists.

For more information on the Appreciation at Work Trainers program, contact seth@appreciationatwork.com.

SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT

This library is sponsored in part by Partners for Incentives, a Cleveland-based enterprise engagement technology, program design and implementation company that sells solely through promotional marketing and other distribution partners.

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